Construction underway to turn dam into recreational area

Improvements include wetlands, trail system

By Steve Ramirez

sramirez@lcsun-news.com @SteveRamirez6 on Twitter

Posted:
07/28/2013 04:48:05 PM MDT

Robin Zielinski-Sun-News
Cottonwood trees rest on a flatbed truck on Saturday, as they will be planted this week at the dam revitalization site off of East Lohman Ave. on the east side of the Las Cruces Flood Control Dam. The public park will include multi-purpose trails, a pond area, sheltered seating with viewing binoculars and informational kiosks. (null)

LAS CRUCES >> Some residents are hopeful the Las Cruces Flood Control Dam might be able to evolve into another Central Park.

The dam stretches for about 3 1/2 miles, parallel along Interstate 25, through the city, from Lohman Avenue to Northrise Drive. That area is in the central part of Las Cruces.

Although improvements are currently being made at the south end of the dam, some city officials admit much more work would definitely be needed before it could be considered anything close to what New York City's Central Park is like. But, there are some Las Crucens who still envision -- admittedly optimistically -- restoration of the flood control dam into a premier park.

"I could see the days where people might be able to go horse riding up there, or people could take buggy rides," said Lionel Parker, an East Mesa resident who strongly supports the notion of the Las Cruces Dam becoming a regional park. "There could also easily be areas there where birdwatchers could go and do their thing, areas where people could picnic and trails galore for hikers, joggers and walkers. There would be plenty of room there to handle all of that without anyone interfering on the other's activities.

"It would be a wonderful place for just about everybody to go to."

But those plans could be a bit ambitious. City officials cautioned it would likely take money and years of work to achieve anything that grandiose.

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"It's a flood control dam first, and it will have to stay that way," City Manager Robert Garza said.

Louis Grijalva, project management administrator for the city of Las Cruces, added there would have to be a lot of collaboration between the city and the Army Corps of Engineers, who constructed the dam more than 40 years ago. There would also be the matter of city government and the federal government working together to securing funding.

"Right now, we have about $1.6 million to make this first phase of improvements along the southern end of the dam," Grijalva said. "The city has started working toward securing funding for possible future phases of improvements."

Sometime this week, possibly as early as Tuesday, cottonwood trees will be planted at an area on the east side of the large dam where a wetlands area is being constructed. Grijalva said 1 1/2 acres will be used as a ponding area and another 1 1/2 acres will be used as a marsh.

Since 2005, under the authority of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, city and federal officials have been working to modify and improve the Las Cruces Dam and the quality of environment of the native wildlife and vegetation of the area in and near the dam.

In October 2010, City Council approved a plan to allow the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with the design and implementation of an environmental restoration project. The project includes $1.6 million in improvements to restore the habitat in and near the flood control dam, and to create a friendlier user environment for residents who want the area for recreational purposes.

"In addition to construction of the wetlands, the first phase of this project will include trails, and other amenities that residents can use," Grijalva said. "At this point, there's limited funding for the project and the work is concentrated at the south end of the dam."

City Parks and Recreation Director Mark Johnston added, "The city is fairly limited at this point with what we can and can't do. There are plans to install a covered viewing area at the south end of the dam, off of Lohman Avenue, that will include a (physically) handicapped accessible area where people would be able to view birds and other native habitat in the wetlands area."

Part of the water for the wetlands area would be provided from reclaimed water by the city. Johnston said "purple pipe," that would transport the reclaimed water from the city's water reclamation plant on the East Mesa has been installed.

A parking area is also planned at the southern entrance to the Las Cruces Dam. City officials have said the proposed public park would be intended for daytime use, and there are no future plans to install lights along the dam.

But like supporters who want to see the dam evolve into a regional public park, city officials agreed there would be numerous benefits if that happens.

"Obviously, the views and vistas from up here would be magnificent," Johnston said. "I could see where a lot of people would get a lot of enjoyment from coming up here to look across the city and the Mesilla Valley. This could have the potential to become an important quality-of-life component for a lot of residents."

Steve Ramirez may be reached at 575-541-5452.

ONLINE EXTRA:

To view a copy of the schematic design of a new regional park planned along the Las Cruces Flood Control Dam, visit: http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site557/2013/0726/20130726_051809_LasCruces_Dam_restoration_kiosk_draft.pdf